


僕の英雄（My Hero）

by xLightningToki



Series: Post-SAO Chronicles (a.k.a. Eugeo’s post-canon adventures) [2]
Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Platonic Life Partners, Post-Canon, Resurrection, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 06:24:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18493216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xLightningToki/pseuds/xLightningToki
Summary: Taking the hand of the memory of little Alice and walking into the pillar of light, I thought that I was free at last and could enjoy whatever that came afterward.But the universe had other plans, chaos ensued, and everything that I had learned about the Underworld from Cardinal’s library becamewrong.※※※Eugeo reminiscing about his life and his best friend and partner.A companion piece toBlank Space, written in Eugeo’s point-of-view.





	僕の英雄（My Hero）

**Author's Note:**

> This story had been in my mind for a while now.
> 
> After writing _Blank Space_ , I figured, “Why not write something in Eugeo’s perspective?” So I did, only this time, I just stuck to the past tense, because I am more comfortable writing that way.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I don’t own _Sword Art Online_ or any of its elements whatsoever, just this story.  
> ※Please do not reprint without my permission.※

My life as a woodcutter had been relatively dull, to say the least.

　　In my early years, I had spent nearly every day hacking away at the Gigas Cedar, a demonic tree that sucked in nutrients from its surroundings, preventing my village from ever expanding. I could not choose a new Calling until I cut the ginormous tree down, but no one had expected me to succeed. I would have continued to live without a purpose, only performing something that could never be achieved.

　　Then you—a fair-skinned boy with dark hair and eyes, and a supposed amnesiac—suddenly emerged into my life, trained me to wield the sword that I had hidden from the village for so long, and guided me into chopping down that tree, a seemingly impossible task.

　　Though I have to admit, you’ve always had a way with doing the impossible.

　　I felt that with you by my side, I could finally take back what I had lost. I could become stronger and find a reason to live. No, I still feel that way.

　　Your simple presence had forever left warmth beating in my heart.

　　We applied to the North Centoria Imperial Swordcraft Academy together and were accepted. We spent two years there training with swords and magic, and we befriended two sweet, noble young girls who would eventually become our valets. All the while, we deemed each other as best friends.

　　Throughout that time, I learned so many things about you, such as your favorite food and color, and your interests and dreams. You also taught me about the rules of my world and how they weren’t always superlative.

　　“There are things that aren’t illegal but should never be done, and sometimes there are things that must be done, even when they are forbidden by law.”

　　You were undeniably spot-on. After Raios and Humbert tried to assault Ronie and Tiese, I knew that those men’s actions would never stand. The mere thought of forcing oneself onto another as punishment… It was absolutely repulsive. Consequently, I drew my sword at the men to protect our valets. The price? The temporary destruction of my right eye.

　　But I was so furious at those scums that I didn’t mind the excruciating pain.

　　After you amputated Raios’s arms, Raios went mad and collapsed, and you and I were blamed for his death. The Integrity Knight sent to arrest us was our childhood friend, Alice Zuberg, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She couldn’t even _remember_ me. And learning that the supreme ruler of our world was a madwoman who could barely be called human… That was even worse.

　　How come my life was one active nightmare after another?

　　But you told me not to give up. You stayed with me until the end, fighting for justice and for the residents of the Underworld who needed protection. I resolved to do the same, so I could undo the suffering that everyone had endured.

　　And then Quinella brainwashed me into thinking that no one cared about me, and I turned my sword on you. After recovering and learning that you were the same boy whom I was friends with in my childhood, I cried to myself, wondering if I was still worthy to be your comrade. What good friend points his armament at the other?

　　Despite all of these plights, you never left, and there I realized how amazing you really were, and that we as humans were all flawed. We lie to others and ourselves and perform depraved acts on each other on behalf of our own selfishness, but we still try to overcome everything. We still seek goodness, giving our love to those that deserve it, and we still strive to be kind and redeem ourselves.

　　So I decided to become your strength one more time.

　　Removing my core protection with Cardinal’s aid, I willed my body to become a sword. I attacked Quinella’s golem and the tyrant herself, thus suffering mortal injuries. I told you that you were my hero, and encouraged you to stand up and fight for what you believed in.

　　And lastly, I lied while fading in your arms, drenched in my own blood and listening to your cries and pleas. I saw the night sky, content that at least Alice was alive. I buried the guilt of leaving her, Selka, Ronie, Tiese and you deep into my chest.

　　“Envelop…this…little world…as gently…as the night…sky…”  _Please, Kirito, don’t ever give up._

　　Relaying this message, I finally blacked out.

* * *

Taking the hand of the memory of little Alice and walking into the pillar of light, I thought that I was free at last and could enjoy whatever that came afterward.

　　But the universe had other plans, chaos ensued, and everything that I had learned about the Underworld from Cardinal’s library became _wrong_.

　　The so-called “gods” of the Underworld had never existed; they were merely super-accounts created by people from the other side, from _your_  world. You had degraded into an empty husk of yourself, and one of the super-accounts had been taken over by a maniac who wished to steal souls.

　　And for some reason, my soul _refused to die_.

　　By fusing with my sword, I could never move on, more or less be reborn. I became your crutch, the sole reason for your ongoing existence, and was subject to Tiese’s mourning.

　　Realizing that everyone still required my assistance, I resolved to protect my friends. I needed to convince them that even though my body was gone, I would still be there to guide them.

　　I stood behind Tiese, who was hunched over the broken Blue Rose Sword on your lap. Knowing that she wouldn’t see me, I leaned forward until my mouth was close to her ear.

　　Then I gently whispered to her, “Don’t cry… I’ll always…be…here…”

　　My words had the opposite effect on her. She began to cry harder, but it was difficult to determine whether it was from heartache or relief; all I knew was that she somehow heard me. Ronie continued to weep, and Alice’s azure eyes started to glimmer.

　　I looked into your pitch black eyes and only saw void.

* * *

Soon, the god Vector—or as I should say, _Gabriel Miller_ —lead armies of monsters from the Dark Territory and his human allies to attack the Integrity Knights. Luckily, some people from the Dark Territory rebelled and decided to aid the Integrity Knights, and humans from the real world logged into Underworld to protect you and Alice.

　　You still had not woken from your stupor, and at that point, your mentality was ready to collapse. Your friends and family attempted to rouse you, but all to no avail—the future looked bleak, and your grief was breaking you down into nothing.

 _Was this all of my fault?_  I wondered.

　　Just as all hope seemed lost, I heard Tiese’s prayers for me to save you. I knew that you wouldn’t believe me to be real if I suddenly appeared before you, but perhaps my memories would snap you out of it. I had to try.

　　Taking a deep breath, I willed my memories to engulf your mind.

_I’m sorry, Kirito, but I don’t want you to suffer because of me._

* * *

During your final battle with Gabriel, I decided that enough was enough—I didn’t need to hide from you anymore.

　　With all of my strength, I materialized and seized my newly repaired sword, parrying Gabriel’s blow. Together, we stabbed our precious weapons—the Night Sky Sword and the Blue Rose Sword—into Gabriel’s body, ending the madman’s reign of terror forever.

　　Confirming that the main conflict had been taken care of, I fell asleep, wishing to preserve my memory.

　　I didn’t realize how much time had passed since I dozed off until you logged into Underworld again. By then, two hundred years had flown by. Selka was stuck in a Deep Freeze enchantment so that she could wait for her sister’s return, and Ronie and Tiese had been reincarnated.

　　You, Alice and your girlfriend Asuna waved at said two from the sky. I used this opportunity to appear next to you before waving at the young girls. You didn’t notice me, but the girls did, and they became teary-eyed as they smiled back at us. They must have believed in my return, since they actually spotted me.

　　Satisfied, I disappeared into the clear night sky, slumbering once more.

* * *

The next thing I knew, my eyes opened to the sight of a foreign laboratory.

　　I found myself lying on a whitewashed bed, dressed in what you would call “sterile clothing”, and blinking at bright lights attached to the ceiling. A woman with freckled cheeks and short, green hair hovered at my right, and a dark-haired man with glasses stood farther away on my left. Both adults were wearing clothing that had not existed in Underworld two hundred years prior.

　　The woman must have realized that my eyes were open, for she suddenly gasped, “He’s awake!”

　　…Just through hearing that, I knew that I wasn’t supposed to be here.

　　In response, I uttered an intelligent “Bwuh?” and attempted to sit up. My body felt cold and heavy, and I was about ready to fall back onto the mattress. I glanced at my arm, noticing that it had a rather unnatural texture, similar to that of metal.

　　Hold on a second. _Metal…?_

　　“Easy there,” said the woman, pushing me gently on the back until I was finally upright. I squinted my green eyes at her, a million questions forming in my head.

　　Eventually, I settled on one and murmured, “Where…?”

　　The man’s glasses gleamed over, concealing his mirthful eyes. The woman curled her lips upward as she gestured at my surroundings.

　　“This is the Ocean Turtle,” she announced. “Welcome to the real world, Eugeo.”

* * *

Her name was Kōjiro Rinko, and she was a witness of Rath’s research of the Soul Translator, a fourth generation FullDive machine that connected to a human user’s soul rather than to his or her brain. The man, Kikuoka Seijirō, was a lieutenant colonel from the Japanese government’s self-defense force and was in charge of Project Alicization.

　　…Whatever that meant.

　　Project Alicization, as it turned out, was a top-secret government project run by Rath to create highly adaptive “bottom-up” artificial intelligence known as “Artificial Labile Intelligence Cybernetic Existence” or the acronym “A.L.I.C.E.”—in other words, people like Alice and me. In short, we were all artificial existences created by humans from the real world.

　　The chief developer of the Soul Translator and Kikuoka’s co-worker, Higa Takeru, had noticed my materialization after you had logged into Underworld and met our valets’ re-embodiments. Concluding that my revival could somehow bring peace to you and secure your mental health, he had extracted my Fluctlight from yours while you were logged in and transferred mine to a robotic body, hence the strange sensation that I presently felt inside. He had explained to me that Alice had undergone a similar procedure and was currently enrolled in your high school.

　　Rinko thought it best to help me adjust to this new information, the real world (which, by the way, was so much more technologically advanced than Underworld was centuries ago) and my new robotic body.

　　The functions of my new body were quite limited at first. I no longer had the necessity to eat or use the bathroom, but at the same time, the extra weight from the metal prevented me from traveling at fast speeds. On the bright side, I learned more about the fascinating machinery that people used on a daily basis, amazed that these people never had to rely on magic (which didn’t exist in this world), but instead on scientific theories and discoveries. I also accepted that the sacred tongue from Underworld was simply English, a commonly spoken language in the real world.

　　(…Huh. So it was true that all of those strange phrases that you taught me had literal meanings, although now I know that “log out” does _not_  mean to find a place to stay for the night.)

　　After I had finally become accustomed to this unfamiliar world, Rinko revealed that Kikuoka had originally planned to use the artificial intelligence from Underworld as military assets. She told me that if you had known of this beforehand, you probably would have never agreed to partake in Rath’s project.

　　It took all of my willpower not to punch Kikuoka in the face right then and there.

* * *

Finally, the day came when Rinko decided that it was time for me to meet you.

　　Naturally in the beginning, I was tentative of this prospect. The last time that you saw me alive and kicking was during the battle against Quinella. Certainly our relationship must have become more strained since then. You had lied about your background in front of my face (you didn’t even tell me that you had a girlfriend and an adoptive daughter, for goodness sake), and I had left you to deal with your ceaseless guilt.

　　I had the heart to forgive you, but would you really be willing to forgive _me_?

　　“I don’t know if I can do this,” I admitted to Rinko as we stepped outside, my body shaking. “After all that I put Kirito through, he’s going to be so angry with me.”

　　Rinko gazed at me. “Do you really believe that, though?”

　　I ducked my head, refusing to give a verbal affirmation.

　　She sighed and squeezed my shoulder. “I don’t think that he’ll do that. He’s your best friend; he won’t stay mad at you. He’s a good kid, so you should really have more faith in him. So take a deep breath and relax, okay? You’ll be _fine_.”

　　I sincerely hoped that was true. Obeying her words, I began to walk forward. “…Okay.”

　　Everything was a blur afterwards. I could scarcely remember the outside sights and smells as I prepared to meet you. I didn’t even know if I found you in the real world or in a game. The only thing that I could recall was the strident pounding of my own core.

　　Eventually, I found you dressed to the brim in black—coat, pants, boots and all. Your dark eyes met mine, and I froze upon the spot, forgetting whatever that I wanted to say.

_Is this a dream?_

　　Your eyes watered as you extended a shaking hand towards me, and you breathed disbelievingly, almost silently, “…Eugeo?”

_I can’t take this anymore._

　　My vision blurred through my tears, and once your arms wrapped around me, I finally broke down in front of you.

* * *

After drenching each other in snot and tears, we managed to catch up on recent events. You talked passionately about school and virtual reality games, and I divulged all of my discoveries about the real world.

　　You immediately decided to introduce me to your friends, calling them and asking if they could gather together at one spot. Then you grabbed my hand and we started sprinting away like a pair of banshees.

　　Right before meeting everyone, I felt my insides turning cold, hoping to make a good impression. You noticed my panic and rubbed my back, telling me, “It’ll be all right, Eugeo. Just calm down, and everything will be okay.”

　　I inhaled and, without thinking, replied, “I suppose so. _Stay cool_ , right?”

　　It was one of the few English phrases that I could articulate without butchering. Your gaze softened as you agreed, “Right.” And off we went.

　　To be frank, my reunion with Alice was a bit awkward. I couldn’t blame her for the uneasy atmosphere, since she didn’t remember me as one of her childhood friends. In fact, she was a bit mad at me for upsetting you, but she ultimately said that she was glad that I was alive.

　　Your daughter Yui warmed up to me immediately, and your girlfriend Asuna was practically beaming with joy and relief, thanking me for always being by your side. I could see why you loved her so much—she was so kind and gentle. Your sister Leafa (a.k.a. Suguha) began bawling outright after hearing the news of my return. I assumed that her reaction was a good thing.

　　One of your friends, a mature young girl called Sinon, mentioned that I would find something interesting if I began playing a game called “Gun Gale Online”, but you promptly tried to shush her. Now _that_  got me curious.

　　And I learned one new thing about you: apparently, a lot of your friends so happened to be _girls_.

　　“Hey, Kirito,” I said after cornering you into a wall (while baring a rather scary expression); “mind explaining to me why most of your friends are _female_?”

　　You lifted up your hands in surrender and replied with vigor (albeit anxiously), “I swear, Eugeo, it’s _not what it looks like_.”

　　“Hmm…”

　　“I’m serious!” Cue boisterous laughing from your—no, _our_ —friends from the other side.

　　After everyone dispersed for the evening, you and I left in a good mood and made our way towards your house. It had been decided that I would reside there until your graduation and that I would be enrolled into your school, so in the meantime, you could teach me about things from the real world that I had not yet come across.

　　Having finished unpacking my belongings, we entered your bedroom. You sat down on your bed and patted the free space next to you. I took a seat, and you wrapped an arm around my neck before leaning your head on my shoulder.

　　I sighed comfortably and leaned my head on top of yours, indulging in this newly found bliss.

　　“Welcome home,” you whispered to me as you shut your eyes.

　　Warmth overtook my cold metal body, and I almost cried again. How long had it been since I felt so happy?

　　I snuggled next to him and smiled. “It’s good to be back.”

* * *

I had already gotten my hands on ALfheim Online and had created an account, so it became a daily routine that you and I would always log in together at the same time before meeting up with our party.

　　The visual resolution of this game was not as crisp as that of Underworld, so it was difficult to get used to. Flying lessons were a nightmare, but at least my swordsmanship was still intact.

　　Today was one of those days in which we had no planned quests, so we all decided to have a picnic lunch. Asuna had helped to prepare the food, so everyone was looking forward to the meal. You and I settled on one side of the picnic blanket, which had been laid under a blossoming tree. Poor Alice was sulking in a corner, complaining that you never reacted well to her cooking. It took plenty of my coaxes to convince her to rejoin the group.

　　While waiting for Asuna to arrive, I offhandedly commented, “You sure seem famous around here, Kirito.”

　　“Oh, that…” You scratched your neck, a pale blush covering your cheeks. “It can’t be helped, since I practically own the sword Excalibur now…”

　　“Or is it because you’re the one who cleared SAO?”

　　“Now don’t go that far, _Eugeo-kun_ ,” you scoffed mockingly; “it’s embarrassing.” You also muttered under your breath, “Who even taught you that?”

　　I chuckled, resting my head on your shoulder. The fact that I could still feel your body heat despite being in a game astounded me. “But you’re still a hero, though.”

　　You smiled at me, your murky eyes glimmering. “But I’m _your_  hero, aren’t I?”

　　I laughed under my breath as you rested your head on mine. Everything seemed to be a dream, but I knew that whatever that I was experiencing now was real, and I felt so glad to be alive.

　　“Of course,” I confessed. “You’ll _always_  be my hero.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is how I thought Eugeo’s return would go. If it actually turns out differently, then either I will edit the story to fit the canon plot or I will change the tags.


End file.
